Born in and now returned to Yorkshire from Scotland, spending summers in Italy. I knit socks but prefer to wear flip flops

Wednesday, 6 November 2019

More cats

A family of four kittens and a mother arrived at Anna’s house at the bottom of our road in the summer. Anna fed them until she disappeared to Rome for a few weeks, we’d have been more than willing to take over for her but she didn’t tell us she was going. The cats moved up to Giovanni’s house and again were fed until he went back to Rome for three weeks again without a word. So three of them pitched up here and were obviously starving. Foraging under our outside table for crumbs and huddling pathetically at the back door did the trick, I started feeding them, firstly down at Anna’s in the hope they’d stay there but now on our terrace as they have definitely moved here.

The larger grey is a younger version of Grigio

They are waiting here every morning at the terrace door and sleeping in the feeder house. Enrico is fine with them, he comes from a similar background, but Grigio isn't so pleased and likes to box the kitties ears now and again. There are two grey and one grey and white, the littlest isn’t in great condition, a bit too thin, but the other two are well and now allowing me to touch them.
We told Mario there are at least five cats here now hoping he would understand the feeder will need regular top ups when we leave. He just said five was too many, he needs to tell that to the people of the village who allow their cats to breed so profusely. It’s hard enough leaving Grigio and Enrico to exist over winter, now it’s a much bigger problem. None of the five are greedy with food and none are aggressive but there is always the worry that other strays will get wise to the feeder and come regularly, it could become very competitive. We never know what’s happening to the cats when we are in the UK, when we came back this year the opening to the feeder house wasn’t even up against the wall so despite Mr FF’s careful design any large animal could get to the food and probably did.
I am at the miserable stage now of knowing we will be leaving soon, ready to be back in the UK, not wanting to leave the cats and knowing there will be several months of worry and concern about them.